Unfortunately, this type of fat is also hard to shift - you’ll find that most diets and exercise programmes have limited results.

So what makes us gain fat around our mid-section - and how can we lose it?

Stress is the main cause of weight gain around our middles, explains Dr Marilyn Glenville, the UK’s leading nutritionist and author of bestselling Fat Around The Middle.

Our bodies are designed to react fast to danger. When your brain thinks you’re in danger, it stimulates the release of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol. Millions of years ago, just like wild animals, we were on constant alert so we could flee or fight if threatened. This fight or flight response provides instant energy for five to 10 minutes.

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These days, many of us live under chronic stress. However, our bodies can’t tell the difference between late trains, debt, work pressure and truly life-threatening stress. That’s why our body still gears up to the challenge and reacts exactly the same as it’s always done.

In our modern lifestyles, stress is almost continuous and comes without the natural release of fighting or fleeing.

After a stressful event, cortisol levels in the blood often remain high for a while, increasing your appetite. Your body thinks you should refuel after all this fighting or fleeing. That’s why people with stressful lives quite often feel constantly hungry. Their body urges them to stock up on energy foods - so they crave carbohydrates and fats.

If you don’t fight or run when your body expects you to, the fat and glucose in your system get deposited as fat – around your middle. Why? Fat targets our belly because it’s close to the liver, where it can quickly be converted back into energy if required.

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A new study shows that excess fat around the middle is in fact more unhealthy than being overweight.

Eat every three hours. Keep your blood sugar levels and energy levels stable by eating regularly. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a mid-morning snack and one mid afternoon. Try not to eat carbohydrates after 6pm. This will stop those roller-coaster highs and sugar cravings. Because your blood sugar isn’t allowed to drop, your body will no longer have to ask you for a quick fix.

Don’t skip breakfast. If you miss breakfast your body immediately registers famine and holds on to your stores of fat.

Remove or cut down all added sugar and refined carbs. Avoid any foods that make your blood sugar rise quickly, because - as your blood sugar drops again - your body releases adrenaline and cortisol to stabilise it once more. Switch to whole grain alternatives that release energy slowly.

Add protein to each meal. It slows down the rate your stomach processes food and delays the passage of the carbohydrates with it. As soon as you add a protein (be it animal or vegetable) to a carbohydrate, you change it into a slower releasing carbohydrate, that keeps your sugar levels at bay.

Eat essential fats. Long term dependency on low fat products might mean that you’re consuming less saturated fat, but also that you deficient in the good fats – essential fatty acids, found in oily fish, nuts and seeds. They help to boost your metabolism so don’t forget to include them in your diet.

Don’t eat on the run. It tells your body that time is scarce, you are under pressure and stressed. Furthermore, your digestive system will be less efficient. Make a point of sitting down and eating your food as calmly, as possible.

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Add protein to each meal. It slows down the rate that stomach processes food

Watch what you drink. Cut out all caffeine and sugary drinks and significantly lower your alcohol intake (abstain completely for a month if you can). If you can’t live without your cappucino, make sure you don’t drink it on an empty stomach as it gets straight into the bloodstream and triggers cortisol release.

Exercise. If you have fat around the middle of your body, exercise MUST become one of your priorities. By simply making time for exercise in your life, you can control the potentially damaging fight or flight response.

Add magnesium. It calms the adrenal glands and helps to balance blood sugar by contributing to the production and action of insulin. If you're low in magnesium, eat more leafy greens and nuts.